Faustin E. Wirkus
Faustin E. Wirkus (1897–1948) was a U.S. Marine stationed in Haiti during the U.S. Occupation (1915-1934).[1][2] After rescuing a young woman in trouble he found out that she was Queen Timemenne of La Gonave.
Promoted to a lieutenant in the Haitian Garde he was officer commanding a squad of native troops on La Gonave, he was welcomed by the population as Timemenne had told them how kind he was to her. Somewhat bizarrely the natives called him King Wirkus I and he ruled jointly with Queen Timemenne for eight years.[3][4] He became known for dispensing ready but gentle justice.[5]
William Seabrook published Wirkus' account of the occupation in his travel narrative, The Magic Island.[6]
References
- ^ National Affairs: Marine King - TIME
- ^ Marine Corps Institute (U.S.)., Leatherneck Association, Marine Corps Association Volume 62 1979 [1]
- ^ The white king of La Gonave, Faustin Wirkus, Taney Keplinger Dudley, 1931 Doubleday, Doran & Company, inc.
- ^ Department of the Navy -Naval Historical Society
- ^ Haiti; the politics of squalor, Robert I. Rotberg, Christopher K. Clague 1971
- ^ Renda, Mary. Taking Haiti: Military Occupation and the Culture of U.S. Imperialism, 1915-1940. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001, 4.